Raw Milk Was a Bad Choice

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where the sign on the door says three's a crowd.

We begin in West by god Virginia because this story is almost too good to be true. Some legislators there successfully removed the jackboots of Louis Pasteur from the necks of the people who sell milk in that state. To that end, a bunch of them made a big show of gulping down raw milk. That took guts, many of which became visible shortly thereafter.

During announcements in the House chamber Thursday, Delegate Scott Cadle, R-Mason, invited lawmakers—and anyone else who wanted to "live dangerously"—to sample raw milk that he had brought from a Mason County dairy. A handful of lawmakers who drank the raw milk later got sick, though there's been no evidence that Cadle's milk was the cause. "There's nobody up there that got sick off that milk," said Cadle, who was home sick with a stomach bug Monday but returned to work at the state Capitol on Tuesday. "It's just bad timing, I guess." The state Bureau of Public Health started an investigation Tuesday after receiving a complaint that the raw milk might have caused a disease outbreak. Discussions of the raw milk, and ailing legislators and staff, dominated Capitol hallways this week. After Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the raw milk bill into law last week, Cadle walked up and down the Capitol's East Wing, which houses delegates' offices, offering up milk samples to anyone wanting a taste. Some people took just a sip, while others drank a glassful. "A lot of people haven't tasted raw milk … and they find out it's got a little better flavor than store-bought milk," Cadle said. "Most of them people just tasted it. That's all they did." By then, a stomach virus already had been circulating through the House, Cadle said. Staffers and fellow lawmakers complained about flu-like symptoms—fever, vomiting, diarrhea, he said.

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I move we set this bill on the table, just as soon as we can lift the Speaker off of it.

From there, we move along to Missouri, where the state legislature passed one of the more sweepingly idiotic pieces of anti-human legislation this side of Uganda. This was allegedly to protect the "religious liberties" of the state's considerable bigot community. However, the Democrats held the bill up by filibustering it for 19 hours.

"This amendment is entirely defensive, in that it prevents state and local governments from imposing penalties," Onder said. "It is a shield, not a sword." The Bible mentions numerous times "the abomination of homosexuality," said state Sen. David Sater, a Cassville Republican, later adding: "I'm not condemning this type of behavior. I just believe through my religious convictions that it is wrong."

Local business leaders pronounced themselves appalled. Tourism officials were aghast. My god, Monsanto was on the right side of an issue for the first time in 50 years, Sorry, gents, you used these Bible-bangers to get your tax cuts and your deregulated economy. This is the price you pay for the support they give you.

And speaking of tax cuts, Mississippi clearly is looking at what's been happening in Kansas and Louisiana and feeling that its unique status among basket-case state economies is being threatened.

Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves says the Senate plan will spur economic growth, but critics say it would eventually reduce revenue by 10 percent in a state where a school budgets have been underfunded for years. Senate Bill 2858 passed 38-10 Thursday. It will move to the House, but prospects there are unclear. The House Ways and Means Committee, meanwhile, passed House Bill 412, with tax credits for low- or moderate-wage workers. Mississippi revenues have fallen short of expectations this year amid sluggish economic growth.

I swear, if you just factored out the members of the legislature, Mississippi's educational rating would soar.

White, who stirred up controversy last year for telling her staff to ask Muslim visitors to her office on "Texas Muslim Capitol Day" to publicly announce "allegiance to the United States," told supporters in an email on Wednesday that the $1,800 price tag for a recount may be worth it. "After prayer and conversations with my team and supporters we have decided to request a recount of the ballots cast in House District 55," White said on Facebook. "We are at peace regardless of the results."

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Dear Jesus, please rig the math for your Name's sake.

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Windburn Consultant Friedman of the Plains brings us the news that many in that state's legislature need a refresher course in Supremacy Clauses.

The resolution calls for a statewide vote of the people on whether to abolish an article of the Oklahoma Constitution that prohibits the use of state funds to support a religion. The state Supreme Court relied on that constitutional requirement in June when it ordered a Ten Commandments monument removed from the Capitol grounds.

Passage of this nonsense guarantees another couple of decades worth of doomed federal lawsuits, which certainly is better than wasting the taxpayers' money on anything else. And, of course, it's more work for the state's Satanists, who deserve a break.